Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-02-28
REDEMPTION.
RT. REV. BISHOP KAIN'S SERIES OF LRNTBN
LECTURES.
A Lsrge Congregation Listens to the First Of the
Course Yesterday AfiernOOn-"Primitiys
Man" Discussed.

According to announcement, the Rt.
Rev. Bishop Kain began = series of lectures
last evening in the Cathedral church. The
subject selected is one that should prove
very interesting to all protesting Christians
THE Redemption Through Christ" The
hour at which the Bishop lectures every
Sunday evening in Lent is 3 o'clock. The
first of this series drew a very large con-
gregation, who were repaid by an excellent
discourse on the state of primitive man,
the nature and effects of the fall, and that
redemption from his fallen condition after
which the soul of man so intensely
yearns.
The Bishop showed the importance of a
correct understanding of these great truths
He referred with sadness TO the growth IN
our midst of an unbelieying, nay BIAS
pheming spirit; and he illustrated his re-
marks by quoting what he termed the
late horrid blood-freezing u~tterance
of Rev. Beecher-a man calling him
self a minister of Christ yet speak
ing so irreyerently of his Divine Mas
ter. Many whose faith in the Divinity
of Christ has been destroyed or weakened,
may attribute this unhappy consequence
to the false notions which they have IN
bibed concerning the necessity OF any such
redemption as that which the scriptures
maintain has been wrought through Gods
Incarnate Son. Therefore, the first part
a. - r. loo4,.a .-,a lay-ntaI 60 n nlaan
scriptural exposition of mans condition
before and after the Fall. Not only did
man possess the perfection Of gifts IN the
natural order, but his soul was also en-
riched with grace which raised him to an
order above nature, and fitted him for
heaven.
The Bishop laid stress on this considera-
ton, that man as 4 mere human being
could have no claim to heaven, and that
the divine grace which made him fit for
the beatitic vision of God was no part of
his mere natural and essential qualities,
but a pure gift of his Creator. 1t was this
supernatural quality infused into his soul
that made him truly a child of God, and
as such an heir of heaven. Sad as
were the other consequences of
the Fall, the loss of
supernatural grace was the greatest and
direst of all the effects of our first parents
transgresSiOn. But let us remember, said
the Bishop, that in being deprived of grace
which fits us for heaven, We are deprived
of that to which human nature never had
any strict claim. He then went on to
state and answer many of the difficulties
alleged against the Catholic teaching con
corning the Fall, and its effects on the hui
man race.
Passing to the second part of his dis
course, the Bishop contendcd that nothing
short of q full restoration to man Of the
condition iurteited by sin could he truly
entitled n Redemption. This position he
very fully elaborated by numerous and
pertinent quotations from Sacred Scrip
ture. Redemption. therefore, does not
mean merely the pardon of sin, but it inn
plies the restitution of the supernatural
gifts which man enjoyed in Paradise.
Man must be restored to his original dig
nifty of a child OF God and IN heir Of
heaven. Not only is sin forgiven,
but the Christian man is new.cre-
ated, and his soul re-clothed with the
ItuulN illu DUllutSS ~ tlNluC SiaiC "hiNu
once more fits him for his supernatural
destiny in the glory of heaven. The strict
attention paid to the line OF argument by
which the Rt. Rev. Lecturer built up his
convincing proofs of this feature of the Re-
demption purchased for us by the blood OF
Christ, eyinced the absorbing interest
which his Christian hearers are taking in
a subject which so nearly concerned them
all. They were inspired with a feeling
sense of their own nobility ~ Christians
and made to realize the consoliug truth OF
the Apostles declaration: lyon have re-
ceived the spirit of adoption of sons and
if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed Of God, and
Joint heirs with Christ"
Yesterdays lecture was hut the founda-
ton on which the Bishop promises to erect
the solid, orthodox doctrine of Redemption
through Christ and its manner of app!ica-
ton TO redeemed souls. IL is q subject
which will no doubt continue 10 draw
large audiences TO the Cathedral every Sun
day evening during Lent.